Total beginner just bought an old Arundel J4 I think Junior as its 55 inch long-some help please!

[PTomo]

Hi I wonder if someone can help?

Total beginner!

I have had for years a 'put a drill in a headstock' type lathe and had a little play using some carving chisels last week and I managed to make a 'thing' as Jeremy Clarkson would say! From a squarish bit of wood I got to the round and made a cross between a solid pepper mill and a large light pull! Its now a tactile thing!

I then saw an Arundel J4 MkII for sale on FB Marketplace and bought that! I have just fixed it to my workbench and my queries are:

1/I cannot get the inner faceplate off?! The outer one unscrews clockwise and I can get this off! The seller tells me the inner plate is a right hand thread which to my mind is the natural one we are all used to ie undo anti-clockwise? I have tried wood with screws and it just bends the screws!

I wish to remove to fit a drive centre? is this the correct terminology? ie a pronged drive but as there is a hole going through the drive shaft do i need to remove the faceplate? Also what size of pronged drive might I need? Is this where morse tapers come in? I think I saw online somewhere that this is an MT2 headstock and a MT1 tail? Or do i need to remove the faceplate and expose the thread and is there a threaded pronged drive?

2/I would like to obtain a live centre for the tail stock again I have heard this is an MT1?

3/Its has a 3 sized drive pulley acting on a 3 drive headstock pulley and I am guessing the larger on the motor pulley on the smallest on the headstock pulley is the fastest?

4/I also got 6 bit rusty chisels but nothing else and I would like to obtain a drilling headstock so guessing this is MT1?
The length you can drill appears very limited do you just use a longer drill and advance the tailstock as you go?

Any help very much appreciated-I would like to turn some 'trophy' type bases as I cast in pewter an eagle and the bases are getting very expensive so thought I would bring it in house!

Many thanks Peter

 

[Phil Pascoe]

You can usually get a two or three foot long batten or even a piece of angle iron or something, drill a couple of holes through it and bolt it - not screw it - through the face plate. That leverage will usually crack it off. A bit of heat won't hurt. Put a washer on the register on the spindle before you replace the faceplate or put a chuck on it, you can cut a washer from a piece of flat plastic, I use dettol or floor cleaner bottles as the plastic is a bit thicker than most.
Get a copy of this, it's widely acknowledged to be one of the best beginner's books, the newer ones have a dvd -
https://www.google.com/search?gs_ss...MTQwODFqMGo3qAIIsAIB&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[John Brown]

The headstock and tailstock are both MT1.
I bought a copy of that book on Mr Pascoe's recommendation, and can endorse it also.

 

[Jacob]

Hi I wonder if someone can help?

Total beginner!

I have had for years a 'put a drill in a headstock' type lathe and had a little play using some carving chisels last week and I managed to make a 'thing' as Jeremy Clarkson would say! From a squarish bit of wood I got to the round and made a cross between a solid pepper mill and a large light pull! Its now a tactile thing!

I then saw an Arundel J4 MkII for sale on FB Marketplace and bought that! I have just fixed it to my workbench and my queries are:

1/I cannot get the inner faceplate off?! The outer one unscrews clockwise and I can get this off! The seller tells me the inner plate is a right hand thread which to my mind is the natural one we are all used to ie undo anti-clockwise? I have tried wood with screws and it just bends the screws!

Very nice classy old lathe, I had one for years, now got the big brother J4 "Senior".
The face plates are opposite threaded and the only way to get them off is to work one against the other.
When you put them back make sure they each have a fibrous washer to make it easier next time.
Ideally you'd bolt a bit of substantial steel strap to each of them. With the end of one locked by bearing on to the bench etc, hit the other to turn it - anticlockwise on the inboard one and vice vera. Alternate the hitting to loosen them both a bit as you go, rather than just loosening one and tightening the other even more.
PS
Do not use mole grips, stillson wrenchs etc - you will damage things unnecessarily.

I wish to remove to fit a drive centre? is this the correct terminology? ie a pronged drive but as there is a hole going through the drive shaft do i need to remove the faceplate? Also what size of pronged drive might I need? Is this where morse tapers come in? I think I saw online somewhere that this is an MT2 headstock and a MT1 tail? Or do i need to remove the faceplate and expose the thread and is there a threaded pronged drive?

Yes as far as I remember MT 1 and 2 for the headstock. Could be wrong, it'll be on line somewhere. You can pop one in with the faceplate still in place

2/I would like to obtain a live centre for the tail stock again I have heard this is an MT1?

Yes I think so

3/Its has a 3 sized drive pulley acting on a 3 drive headstock pulley and I am guessing the larger on the motor pulley on the smallest on the headstock pulley is the fastest?

Yes

4/I also got 6 bit rusty chisels but nothing else and I would like to obtain a drilling headstock so guessing this is MT1?
The length you can drill appears very limited do you just use a longer drill and advance the tailstock as you go?

Get a "long hole boring kit" with the right MT tapers for the bits.

Any help very much appreciated-I would like to turn some 'trophy' type bases as I cast in pewter an eagle and the bases are getting very expensive so thought I would bring it in house!

Good idea!

 

[PTomo]

Hi Phil many thanks for the advice and book link-I think this is the junior due to the length? There is the old brochure with it and if this lathe is indeed the J4 MkII then it states under 'Headstock' 'the spindle is hollow for ease in removal of centres fitted to the no 1 morse taper and further under 'tailstock' 'spindle is hollow for ease in removal of centres, drill chucks fitted to the no 1 morse taper so both are No1 MT ? How are these removed just knocked through from the opposite end? Many thanks Peter ps where is the Mid Cornish Desert?

 

[John Brown]

Pretty certain both are MT1.
I currently have two of these lathes, one in use.
And yes, the shafts are hollow, so you can knock out the tapers with a long bar

 

[Jacob]

..... How are these removed just knocked through from the opposite end?....

A steel rod long enough. If desperate two six inch nails with the head and point cut off. Gentle tapping in case badly stuck

 

[Jacob]

Hi Phil many thanks for the advice and book link-I think this is the junior due to the length? ....

The "Senior" is a similar basic design but scaled up in all directions.
https://www.lathes.co.uk/arundel/page3.html

 

[John Brown]

Mine are 45 inches long (I don't know where you're measuring - I just measured the rail length).

 

[PTomo]

Wow thanks for all of your replies and advice! Sorry yes the rails are 45 inch on mine I was measuring with the motor as well as initially I was going to secure to a board so I could change location!
Are the drive centres set off 4 on Amazon any good?
Mmm long hole boring kits are not cheap more than the lathe cost with chisels! Plus asking my wife to very kindly pick it up as she works closer than we live to its location!

So the tapers are just kept in under pressure and then driven out?

As regards drilling I have seen on you tube a piece turned in a chuck using a tailstock live centre then the tailstock is moved back and then a drill is advanced -I cannot do this with a simple drive centre so a chuck is required? 3 jaw or 4 jaw? How do you secure a non elliptical 'log'(we have sadly a large oak down so lots of wood available) in a chuck?

Or do you turn using a drive centre and then cut clean and insert in a chuck?

Many thanks Peter

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Hi Phil many thanks for the advice and book link-I think this is the junior due to the length? There is the old brochure with it and if this lathe is indeed the J4 MkII then it states under 'Headstock' 'the spindle is hollow for ease in removal of centres fitted to the no 1 morse taper and further under 'tailstock' 'spindle is hollow for ease in removal of centres, drill chucks fitted to the no 1 morse taper so both are No1 MT ? How are these removed just knocked through from the opposite end? Many thanks Peter ps where is the Mid Cornish Desert?

Both MT1, yes you just get a round bar long enough to go through the hadstock - I have steel balls, about 40mm on the ends of mine for weight, but it's not strictly necessary (I have two to because the heavier one won't go through the tailstock.)
As it's new to you I presume you have found the way of locking the spindle? Sometimes it's flats on the shaft, sometimes it's a button that engages with the shaft. A little obvious, I know but we have to start somewhere.
Mid Cornish dessert? Carharrack/St.Day. Where are you?

 

[PTomo]

Both MT1, yes you just get a round bar long enough to go through the hadstock - I have steel balls, about 40mm on the ends of mine for weight, but it's not strictly necessary (I have two to because the heavier one won't go through the tailstock.)
As it's new to you I presume you have found the way of locking the spindle? Sometimes it's flats on the shaft, sometimes it's a button that engages with the shaft. A little obvious, I know but we have to start somewhere.
Mid Cornish dessert? Carharrack/St.Day. Where are you?

Hi we are North Cornwall coast side of Launceston! I did not get back on my laptop until late as we were off to the beach and some super waves at Crackington Haven!

I cannot see a way of locking the spindle? There is a small 3-4mm hole on the outer portion of the spindle pretty gummed up but not of a substantial size.

I was looking art the drive centre sets on Amazon and there are 4 in a wood box-any good?

Many thanks

Peter

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It's not surprising you can't unscrew the faceplate if you can't lock the spindle. I'll leave it to someone who's used one to to tell you how to lock it.

Axi stuff is OK, also have a look at at Chronos and Arceurotrade.

 

[John Brown]

I confess to not knowing how to lock the spindle. I've not yet had a problem unscrewing a face plate. I usually hold the belt.
I'll take a look later, see if I can spot anything.

 

[John Brown]

I can't offer any useful opinion on the set of 4 drive centres on Amazon, except to say that I've found that most things that come in a wooden box are cheap and nasty. I suggest you find a set with a lot of reviews and read them.

 

[Jacob]

.....

I cannot see a way of locking the spindle? There is a small 3-4mm hole on the outer portion of the spindle pretty gummed up but not of a substantial size.

That's it. Not "locking" as such but if you have the right key could be useful for holding it still, but not essential.
This sort of thing if you can track one down the right size and diameter - has to be a nice fit.
https://www.axminstertools.com/chuck-removal-spanner-340220

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It's not a chuck he's trying to remove and that wouldn't lock the shaft. I might be worth a try to take the outboard faceplate off, clean the threads, oil them and replace with a washer, then put a bolt or setscrew through that faceplate wedging it against a tool rest or something then getting the inboard faceplate off using a long bar. Clean those threads up and oil them, fit a washer and replace then try to get the outboard one off - it should be easier. Of course you can leave the outboard one on for use turning the workpiece when switched off, e.g. when polishing the piece. There has to be a way of locking it, though.

 

[John Brown]

Wow thanks for all of your replies and advice! Sorry yes the rails are 45 inch on mine I was measuring with the motor as well as initially I was going to secure to a board so I could change location!
Are the drive centres set off 4 on Amazon any good?
Mmm long hole boring kits are not cheap more than the lathe cost with chisels! Plus asking my wife to very kindly pick it up as she works closer than we live to its location!

So the tapers are just kept in under pressure and then driven out?

As regards drilling I have seen on you tube a piece turned in a chuck using a tailstock live centre then the tailstock is moved back and then a drill is advanced -I cannot do this with a simple drive centre so a chuck is required? 3 jaw or 4 jaw? How do you secure a non elliptical 'log'(we have sadly a large oak down so lots of wood available) in a chuck?

Or do you turn using a drive centre and then cut clean and insert in a chuck?

Many thanks Peter

You can screw large lumps to the faceplate, or glue a sacrificial piece on and screw into that. There are plenty of YouTube videos you can watch.
Alternatively, yes, you can turn what I believe is called a tenon, and then chuck that. I'm only half a step ahead of you, having made little other than sawdust so far.

 

[PTomo]

I have just loosened it! Miixture of one screw and one bolt and the extra leverage!

I also added a photo of my 'bolt a drill in a headstock' lathe which I have had for at least 15 years and never used until last week and my first and only bit of turning so far- how a little piece of wood taken from square to round can be as pleasing to me as this is ridiculous but I made a 'thing'- I was using some Silverline wood carving chisels(quite blunt even though brand new unused Chirstmas present from my wife a couple of years ago) and I very gingerley started wondering if a piece of wood would fly off in my face-found out the drill was on 'hammer' not 'drill' so took it out and pressed for drill action put it back and I could not get anywhere with it and realised when I was trying to put into drill from hammer when the drill was inverted I had put the drill in reverse!! Changed and then I was removing wood!

 

[Silken]

Very nice.